Nursing bottle holder



July 6, 1948;

C; TUBIOLO NURSINGBOTTLE HOLDER Filed Nov. 17, 1944 INVENTOR. @alzhe YZJL'OZO Patented July 6, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT orricr. NURSING ntfiii nnormm Caroline Tubiolo, Rochester, N. Y. Application November 17, 1944, Serial No. 563,847

This invention relates to a nursing bottle holder and has for one of its objects the provision of a generally improved and more satisfactory support for holding a nursing bottle in position so that the child may feed therefrom, without close attention on the part of the parent.

Another object is the provision of a nursing bottle holder particularly designed and adapted for use on a high chair, to feed a baby sitting in the high chair. I

Still another object is the provision of a holder which can be instantly attached or detached from the high chair, and which requires no holes, screws, or other fastening means which would injure or mar the high chair.

A further object is the provision of a holder so designed and constructed that it will present the nursing bottle in an attractive and inviting position to the child, and will have a tendency to jiggle or move the bottle in a manner to attract the child's attention and retain his interest.

A nursing bottle holder in a preferred :[orm constituting an illustrative embodiment of the invention, is shown in the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the upper portion of a childs high chair with the bottle holder applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the bottle holder by itself;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the bottle holder, with one of the bottle holding clamps in transverse section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the line 4-4 of Fi 1.

In Fig. 1 there is indicated somewhat diagrammatically a high chair including a seat supported by legs I3 and having a back l5 to which are hinged at l1 a pair of side arms I9 carrying a tray 2| with the usual marginal rim 23 around it. These parts just described are shown merely as an example of a typical construction with which the present invention may be used. The specific construction of the high chair itself forms no part of the present invention.

The nursing bottle holder comprises a main elongated member formed of a rod or strip of resilient metal such as spring steel, for example. This strip has an upper portion 3| which is substantially straight, and thence extends around a bend 33 to form an inclined portion 35, following which there is another bend 31 in the opposite direction. Beyond this bend 31 is a portion 39 of the strip, roughly parallel to the upper portion 3|, and thence the strip extends around 3 Claims. (Cl. 248-104) 2 I bends 4| and 43 to a lower portion 45 terminating in an end portion 41 rolled back upon itself as indicated. The distance between the bends 4| and 43 is sufficiently great to accommodate the thickness or depth of the edge of the tray of the high chair, including the marginal rim thereon. From these bends 4| and 43, the two arms 39 and 45 converge toward each other, as seen in Fig. 2. Due to the resilient or springy nature of the metal strip, the arms 39 and 45 together constitute a large spring clip which may be readily clipped over the edge of the high chair as indicated in Fig. l, and these arms 39 and 45 will resiliently and frictionally grip the tray of the high chair between them, holding the appliance in place on the tray without any attaching screws or other parts which might damage or mar the high chair.

At the opposite end of the strip from the clip formed by the arms 39 and 45, suitablemeans is provided for holding the nursing bottle. Preferably this means consists of resilient metal clips 5| and 53 of an approximately U-shape as best seen in Fig. 3, the clip 5| being riveted to the strip 3| near its end by means of a rivet 55, and the other clip 53 being riveted to the strip 3| a short distance away, by means of the rivet 51. These U-shaped arms or clips 5| and 53 are of resilient or springy metal, such as thin spring steel, and normally the opposed arms of the clips lie closer to each other than the thickness or diameter of a conventional babys nursing bottle. However, due to the resilience of these clips, a nursing bottle may be readily forced between the opposed arms of the clips 5| and 53, to be held resiliently and frictionally thereby, such a bottle being indicated diagrammatically at 6| in Figs. 1 and 4.

When the parts are assembled in the position indicated in Fig. 1, the nursing bottle 6| is inclined slightly downwardly so that the fluid contents thereof readily reach the nipple and may be withdrawn through the nipple by the child. The construction is well adapted to high chairs having difierent sizes of trays. If the tray is unusually large (in a direction from the front edge of the tray toward the back of the chair) the arms 39 and 45 of the holder may be thrust on the edge of the tray as far as possible, and the bottle 6| may be placed in its holding clips 5| and 53 somewhat rearwardly (that is, toward the back of the chair) from the normal position, so as to bring the nipple 65 close enough to the mouth of the child. On the other hand, if the tray of the high chair is unusually small, the arms 39 and 45 need not be thrust so far over the edge of the tray, and the bottle 6i can be arranged farther forwardly (away from the back of the chair) in its holding clips and 53.

A child sitting in the high chair and seeing the bottle in front of it, is naturally curious and moves his hands to touch the bottle. Each time that the hand touches the bottle, the bottle has a tendency to swing or jiggle to a substantial extent and for a substantial interval of time, since the portions 3|, 33, and 35 form a resilient cantilever and are free of any positive restraint. This swinging or jiggling of the bottle increases the child's curiosity and attentiveness, thus enhancing the attractiveness of the bottle to the child and increasing the childs desire to put his mouth to the nipple for an experimental investigation of thisnewand entrancing moving object which the child finds before him. The result is that, even on the first occasion when a child is confronted with a bottle held by the holder of the present invention, the child finds the bottle most attractive and pleasing, and there is no difiiculty in getting the child to feed itself fromthe bottle. This is a great boon to busy parents, who can then attend to other duties and need not spend a substantial amount of time holding the bottle by hand or persuading the child to feed therefrom.

It is seen from the foregoing disclosure that a construction is provided which admirably fulfills the above mentioned objects of the invention. It is to be understood that the foregoing disclosure is given by way of illustrative example only, rather than by way of limitation, and that without departing from the invention, the construction may be varied within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A nursing bottle support for use with a high chair having a tray, said support including an elongated resilient member having one end integrally shaped approximately in the general form of the letter C to extend around an edge of the tray to be clamped thereto by the resilience inherent in said member, and resilient means adjacent the opposite end of said elongated member for resiliently holding a nursing bottle at an elevation above the tray and in a position accessible to the mouth of a child seated in said high chair, said elongated member being shaped to rest on said tray at a point intermediate the ends of said elongated member and spaced substantially from the edge of said tray around which said member is clamped.

2. A nursing bottle holder including an elongated member bent through acute angles at two spaced points so as to form approximately the shape of the letter Z, clamping means adjacent one end of said elongated member for clamping it over the edge of a shelf-like support in such position that one angle of the Z will rest on such support at a substantial distance from said edge of said support and the other angle thereof ,will be at an elevation substantially above the support, and resilient clip means adjacent the opposite end of said elongated member for resiliently holding a nursing bottle. 3. An infant's nursing bottle holder for attachment to an approximately horizontal shelf such as the tray of a high chair, said holder including an elongated supporting member, clamping means adjacent one end of said member for embracing an edge of said shelf remote from the infant, said member being shaped to extend from said clamping means along the upper surface of said shelf for a substantial distance toward the infant to provide a bearing portion resting on said shelf intermediate the infant and said edge embraced by said clamping means, said member also being shaped to extend upwardly from the vicinity of said bearing portion to a second end elevated substantially above said shelf, and clamping means carried by said supporting member adjacent said second end for holding a nursing bottle in an approximately horizontal position accessible to the mouth of an infant.

CAROLINE TUBIOLO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 932,128 Houston Aug. 24, 1909 1,271,994 Barlow July 9, 1918 1,407,681 Saunders Feb. 21, 1922 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 788,624 France Oct. 14,1935 32,565 Sweden Apr. 3, 1912 

